Bob, points are well taken, these new areas aren't for everyone, but consider this. Appliance repair is a billion dollar business and many utilities are already in it. Couple this with bill protection insurance, accidental death and dismemberment insurance, and power surge protection insurance and you have a tidy sum.
We got into appliance repair as a load retention strategy, to prevent propane gas and oil from taking our largest load, water heaters!
Another reason is customer loyalty. As the local utility we have gained a lot of trust and customer satisfaction, which in and of itself does not lead to loyalty, but value added services can. We have just failed at a new joint venture in telecommunications but will try again with another partner if possible (phone, internet, cable tv). we have the infrastructure (poles and wires and people) and the billing capability.
We will also be involved with energy services (power marketing, conservation etc..)in the future.
We studied electric cars too for many years, and I test drove them quite a bit myself! Not certain of their future yet but battery technology and flywheels are getting better all the time.
We have state of the art call centers, billing systems, and GIS (gepographical information systems). The possibilities are endless. well enough rambling for now. ;>) |
